There is increasing popularity in the use of solid supports to aid in conducting immunologic assays. Solid supports, referred to hereinafter as beads, have certain advantages over some of the other support forms which have been used previously in immunodiagnostic assays. Beads, fashioned from glass, metal or any plastic material such as polystyrene, polyurethane, polypropylene and the like can be coated with various absorbents such as resins, clays, charcoals, silica gels and the like to facilitate absorbing and separating the components of biochemical assays. The beads can also be coated with immunoreactants and thereby participate directly in the assay reaction. After the components on the bead surface have been allowed to absorb or react, the bead can be separated easily from the reaction medium to permit a quick and accurate analysis of its surface.
The prior art requires that the beads be individually dispensed into each reaction container or well. In the situation where a large number of similar tests are being conducted at the same time, dispensing each bead individually is tedious and time consuming. The disclosed apparatus solves this problem by permitting the simultaneous dispensing of a plurality of beads into reaction wells. This apparatus also provides a closed system in which the beads can be transported from their commercial container, into the apparatus, and then to the reaction medium with a minimum risk of contamination for both the beads and the individual conducting the assay.